Sascha SeganKyocera Koi/KX2The Kyocera Koi/KX2 is a very cool and fun phone, but even with the most camera-like interface we've seen on a camera phone, the pictures it took didn't live up to our expectations.

The Kyocera Koi/KX2 is a very cool and fun phone, but even with the most camera-like interface we've seen on a camera phone, the pictures it took didn't live up to our expectations.

In a world of candy-bar phones, flip phones, and slider phones, the Kyocera Koi/KX2 is a rare swivel phone. Push the screen to the left and it swivels up out of the way to reveal the phone keypad. Keep the phone folded and slide away the handy lens cover, and the phone automatically drops into camera modeno scrolling through menus or pushing buttons. There's also a big, colorful screen acting as a viewfinder.

Though this phone is probably too large for most pockets, at 3.9 by 1.9 by 0.9 inches (HWD) and 4.0 ounces, its fun factor will likely endear it to users. Well-spaced buttons prevent mistyping, and sound quality is generally excellent, even though the speakerphone is scratchy. We really liked the jog dial on the side of the phone, which makes it easy to navigate the colorful, easy-to-use menus. The contact list only holds 200 namesmany phones hold up to 500but that's still plenty for personal use. If you're not in the mood to swivel, you can answer calls, end calls, and even dial calls from your contact list with the phone closed. Voice dialing, although not speaker-independent, works.

Taking pictures is a breeze: You just hold the phone sideways and click the shutter button at the top. A jog dial lets you change the camera's settings, all the way up to 1,280-by-960 resolution (or up to 15 seconds of video at 176-by-112 and 15 frames per second). The phone stores about 40 pictures at maximum resolution. We wish it had a memory card slot, but it doesn't.

Sadly, the photos taken with the Koi's 1-megapixel camera don't live up to its camera-like interface. Our simulated-daylight shots looked washed out and suffered from color noise; the noise got even worse on pictures taken in low light. The camera was better than the Motorola V710's or the LG VX7000's (both Verizon phones), but it isn't nearly as good as the Nokia 7610's (a non-Verizon phone). This phone won't replace a standalone camera, even a 1MP model. (To see the difference in digital photo quality for yourself, go to our camera-phone image gallery, at go.pcmag.com/cameraphonetests.)

Kyocera wouldn't tell us who would be the carrier for this phone, but it will run on a CDMA network with Brew. (Sounds like the Verizon network to us.) Our test phone came with Tetris and a card game, but no POP3 e-mail reader. Kyocera offers a $45 USB connection kit, which lets you sync contacts, images, videos, and MIDI ringtones with your PC.

The Koi looks great, sounds great, and is downright fun to use. And though the look and feel of the phone screams "camera," like most other camera phones, it won't come close to replacing your digital camera.

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About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 13 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, hosts our One Cool Thing daily Web show, and writes opinions on tech and society.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer. Other than ... See Full Bio

Kyocera Koi/KX2

Kyocera Koi/KX2

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